Day: February 13, 2022

State-owned electricity company PT Perushaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has projected the development of new and renewable energy (EBT)-based power plants to offset a power shortage of 230 gigawatts (GW) until 2060.

The national energy production had reached 300 terawatts per hour (TWh) in 2020 (base case), while the power demand is projected to touch 1,800 TWh in 2060, PLN Senior Executive/Vice President for Risk Management Chairani Rachmatullah stated on Saturday.

Despite the government having launched the construction of fossil-fueled power plants, with a combined capacity of 35 GW, they will only contribute 21 GW (120 TWh) to the nation’s power production, he noted.

“This means there will be an energy gap of 1,380 TWh (230 GW) and new and renewable energy-based power plants, which require an investment of US$500-600 billion, will most likely overcome the energy gap,” Rachmatullah noted during a webinar on the role of renewable energy in improving the competitive edge during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0.

To that end, PLN has readied a roadmap for the development of new and renewable energy through a plan for the addition of power plants in its 2021-2030 power supply plan, he revealed.

The roadmap also serves as a basis for the achievement of the zero-carbon target by 2060 set by the government, he affirmed.

To date, PLN’s power plants have an installed capacity of 63.3 GW. Hence, PLN is planning to build more power plants, with a capacity of 40.6 GW, within a span of a decade.

New and renewable energy-based power plants are expected to contribute 51.6 percent, or 20.9 GW, to the total additional capacity of 40.6 GW.

In addition, PLN is planning to suspend the operation of thermal power plants (PLTU), with a capacity of 1.1 GW, and replace old diesel power stations (PLTD) and gas-fired power plants (PLTGM), with a capacity of 3.6 GW, so that PLN’s power plants will have a total capacity of 99.2 GW in 2030.

Despite the construction of power plants, with a capacity of 35 GW of which 34 percent, or 13 GW, comes from thermal power plants (PLTU), PLN remains committed to incorporating the new and renewable energy-based power plants to the national electricity system, he stressed.

“This means there is nothing to worry (regarding power oversupply) due to the incorporation of new and renewable energy-based power plants to our system,” he stated.

To achieve the target of increasing its new and renewable energy mix to 23 percent in 2025, PLN has formulated several plans for accelerating the licensing process, exploration and land clearance for the construction of geothermal power plants (PLTP), with a capacity of 1.4 GW, and hydro power plants (PLTA), with a capacity of 4.2 GW.

Source: Antara News

Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dewi Gustina Tobing and Sri Lanka Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardane have agreed to push for immediate negotiations on Preferential Trade Agreement (/PTA) between the two countries.

They reached the agreement during a meeting at the office of the Sri Lanka Trade Minister on Friday (Feb 11, 2022), the Indonesian Embassy in Colombo said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Sunday.

It is believed the negotiations on PTA will have a significant impact to enhance economic and trade relations between the two countries.

Hopefully, the PTA will allow more and more Indonesian products to enter the Sri Lanka market, the ambassador said.

“It (PTA) will allow (Indonesia) not only to meet Sri Lanka’s domestic needs but also to take maximum advantage of Sri Lanka potential as a hub for trade and part of free trade agreement in the Asian region,” she said.

Regarding Sri Lanka’s policy restricting and banning the import of non-essential products to the country, the ambassador said she has encouraged the Sri Lanka government to lift the policy so that trade between the two countries will not be disrupted.

Trade Minister Lanka Bandula Gunawardane said the import restriction and ban is temporary in nature and will be revoked in the near future.

The ambassador and the minister also discussed efforts to increase trade relations through a joint venture scheme and investment.

The ambassador asked Sri Lanka to give Indonesian palm oil wider access to the Sri Lanka market

While Sri Lanka pays attention to sustainable environment , she said the Indonesian agriculture and plantation also apply environmentally friendly standard and necessitate palm oil products to secure Indonesian Certificate of Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO).

In response, Minister Bandula expressed his country’s wish to import Indonesian palm oil under a credit scheme.

At the meeting, the ambassador also invited Minister Bandula to visit Indonesia to follow up on potentials for trade cooperation between the two nations.

Bandula warmly welcomed the invitation and will consider to visit Indonesia this year, along with a Sri Lanka business delegation.

Source: Antara News

Economic expert from Sam Ratulangi University (Unsrat), Dr Joy Tulung, said G20 Forum would be able to stimulate the tourism sector in Indonesia, especially for North Sulawesi Province.

“G20 activities will greatly affect economic growth nationally and regionally, especially in the tourism sector in North Sulawesi,” said Tulung, here on Saturday.

He said a series of activities of the forum will also contribute to the national gross domestic product (GDP) and regional gross domestic product (GRDP) in the regions thanks to community activities.

“G20 delegations from various countries will increase or stimulate tourism, especially in Bali as a place of activity, also nationally,” he said.

Then, he also assessed that investment would increase, especially in areas such as North Sulawesi, given the potential for infrastructure improvements in that area.

Regarding the investment, Tulung considers that investment in the tourism sector and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) would have a positive impact from the forum, if both sectors were properly empowered.

The G20 Summit is the 17th meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) which will take place in Bali, Indonesia, this year.

The Indonesian presidency in the forum has started from 1 December 2021 until the summit in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Source: Antara News

The disbursement of old-age insurance (JHT) is needed by workers who become a victim of work termination especially amid the current pandemic, House of Representatives’ (DPR’s) Commission IX Member Kurniasih Mufidayati stated.

She made the remarks in response to the issuance of Manpower Ministerial Regulation No. 2 of 2022 on Old-Age Insurance Payment Management and Condition, according to her press statement released on Sunday.

The latest regulation stipulates that 100-percent Old-Age Insurance disbursement can only be done at the retirement age of 56 years. Disbursement of JHT before workers are 56 years old can be done with several conditions.

According to Mufidayati, the Old-Age Insurance fund taken from workers, is, in essence, the workers’ right.

If the right to disburse this fund is restricted until they are 56 years old, this regulation will burden the workers who need social security net amid this difficult time, she said.

According to the data from Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan), as of August 2021, there had been 1.49 million JHT claim cases dominated by laid-off workers and workers who resigned under the age of 30.

“This means that workers disburse JHT because they need it since they were laid off and resigned from their companies due to the pandemic,” she remarked.

“They are using the JHT fund to survive while looking for new jobs. If the JHT can only be disbursed at a retirement age, the safety net for laid-off workers will no longer exist,” she continued.

Mufidayati opined this regulation does not align with the people’s current condition.

After workers were terminated, this Old-Age Insurance fund is their biggest hope to be able to continue to live and to have business capital.

This is especially important considering that work opportunities increasingly become difficult to find with entrepreneurs preferring to employ workers under a contract.

“It has become a common knowledge that severance pay check from entrepreneurs is very difficult to access and require a long period of time,” she highlighted.

“Hence, JHT becomes their biggest hope because it can be disbursed after one month of waiting,” she added.

This fund still essentially belongs to workers. Hence, various policies that dictate its utilization should benefit workers as the primary fund owners.

Source: Antara News

The Trade Ministry’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) is tightening the monitoring of crypto asset trade to provide legal assurance that the investing public receive clear information on every traded crypto assets.

Every crypto asset products should be registered to the Bappebti, Acting Head of Bappebti Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana stated through his statement on Sunday.

As such, every types of crypto asset that do not align with Bappebti’s regulation cannot be traded in Indonesia, he continued.

“New crypto asset that will be traded should be registered with Bappebti first through registered crypto asset physical merchant candidate to be evaluated based on the regulations,” he explained.

“Evaluating the crypto asset is done with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method that has several evaluation criteria,” he continued.

The Bappebti had issued the Bappebti Regulation No. 8 of 2021 that lists the conditions of crypto assets that could be traded in Crypto Asset Physical Market.

Crypto asset that could be traded domestically refers to the Bappebti Regulation No. 7 of 2020 on Determining the List of Crypto Asset that could be Traded in Crypto Asset Physical Market.

“It is expected that the public could invest in coin or crypto asset types that have been determined by the agency’s regulation,” Wardhana remarked.

Currently, the agency has determined 229 types of crypto asset that could be traded in crypto asset physical market.

Crypto assets that have not been registered with the agency could not be traded in Indonesia.

Concerning crypto asset made by Indonesians, in principle, Wardhana welcomes it as long as it adheres to the regulations in force.

Bappebti deemed that the future of crypto assets made by Indonesians is quite bright.

The potential and innovation that Indonesians have and the potential of the market in Indonesia are very large and they continue to grow.

Within these last few years, several crypto assets made by Indonesians have been marketed in several global markets, and there are assets that have been registered within the Bappebti Regulation No. 7 of 2020.

Wardhana urged the public to understand the mechanism and the risk before choosing to invest in crypto asset.

Moreover, the public should check the types of crypto asset that have been legally determined by Bappebti and traded in crypto asset physical merchant candidate that have been registered by the agency.

Source: Antara News